Sadly cannot recommend…read more..
Bought a 2nd hand Kia and was quite happy with the car overall. Thought to give Kia the brand a go, and thought to start with a 2nd hand, so will see how we feel about it, and turned out the car was quite decent, and changed my view on KiA as a brand for sure. there were some interesting attributes to the car, but separate review on KiA Cars.
The buying experience with Citygate KiA Slough however, was sub-par and essentially stressful experience.
I'd be clear, the initial "sales" and "payment" was very smooth, but everything else was less so.
Bought the car and was promised a delivery within 2 days, however on the day, I realised I heard nothing from them, and when I called around 4pm, they said the car was not ready. Was then promised the car will be ready in another 2 days, took a day off to take delivery and on the way when I called, it turned out the sales rep was not in and the status of my car was not immediately known. Was then promised a delivery again the next day, however had to actively call up the next day again to find out if the car will come.
All in all, the car eventually arrived, however the items promised (ie swapped front tyres, and touch up paint) were not provided. The paint did eventually after follow up again, but tyres remained. When I initially flagged that I want the tyres swapped for the car, the rep said "will make sure you are happy, and will even tell you how to complain if you're not satisfied", and when I emailed to confirm, I got a reply "leave it with me". However ultimately was not done and was just told they meet KiA standard of 3mm - which they certainly did (I also repeatedly asked about the tyres every call, and was told if I was promised it's fine).
The auto swipers and auto dim mirrors didn't work, and when I emailed was told to contact my local Kia to deal with.
I was also promised the car's photos to be emailed to me, however had to follow up for 3 weeks, and eventually suggest I'd feed back to KiA direct before I got a "screen capture" photo, at which point I can't be bothered to follow up again.
During the sales, the sales rep said the car only came in for less than 30 days, however we knew/checked that the MOT expired for over 6 months already, so that was suspicious, but I won't be able to verify so will let that go.
All in all, my personal experience above (can't agree with others, but my experience was not great). In reflection, not a single commitment was honoured to the quality I expected. To that I can not recommend. At one point, I was honestly thinking did I get scammed of my money, and even now I still think I'm out of pocket in the tyres or the broken swipers, mirror, which I expected them to be fixed before hand.
Need to find time to visit a Kia close by.
Disclaimer. The car is still under warranty, so I can still fix the mirror and swipers with a local dealer.
I would have given a no stars, but the gentleman who delivered, believe he was Josh?, he was very nice and friendly, and that gave a redeeming star back.